Tractor-trail spills fertilizer near Taylor Fork

A truck spilled its secondary trailer full of fertilizer May 5 on Highway 191, near the Taylor Fork south of Big Sky. PHOTO COURTESY OF GALLATIN COUNTY OEM

BIG SKY – A truck carrying 70,660 pounds of fertilizer spilled the contents of its secondary trailer on U.S. 191 at approximately 5 p.m. on May 4, south of Big Sky. Responders closed both lanes of the highway for hours while they cleaned up the spill.

The accident occurred at the 33.8-mile bridge over the Taylor Fork, and nearly all of the contents of the “pup” trailer were spilled on the roadway and bridge decking. The truck, heading northbound, was carrying granular monoammonium phosphate and overturned for unknown reasons. Little, if any, of the product entered the creek, according to a Gallatin County Emergency Management report.

“It appears that everything was contained by the [concrete walls of the bridge], and on the bank above the creek,” said Travis Horton, FWP Regional Fisheries Manager. “If it had gone into the stream in large quantities there could have been fish kill. [Our team] did not observe any dead fish.”

Conditions were dry at the time, so none of the fertilizer was spread into the creek by rainfall. – Tyler Allen